


"I Can't" (So I'll Hold You Until You Can)

by Stressedtoimpress



Series: Danganronpa [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Best Friends, Blackmail, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, I’m So Sorry Byakuya, No Beta, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Other, Rape, Rape/Non-con Elements, Really really sorry, This is the longest thing I've ever written, We Die Like Men, Wordcount: 5.000-10.000, all of makoto's friends are girls, but it WAS proofread
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24192445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stressedtoimpress/pseuds/Stressedtoimpress
Summary: “Hey Naegi, who claimed you?”All other chatter in the table ceased as they turned their heads to Junko, who was sitting there nonchalantly, despite what she’d just said, her chin resting on her hand.Makoto’s face went red. “Wh—What are you talking about Enoshima?” He stuttered out.Junko didn’t say anything and just stood up, sauntering over to the other end of the table. Then, without warning, she grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked it down, revealing a series of bruises all along his lower neck and collarbone.
Relationships: Background Friendships - Relationship, Kirigiri Kyoko & Naegi Makoto, Naegi Makoto/Togami Byakuya
Series: Danganronpa [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1748200
Comments: 7
Kudos: 163





	"I Can't" (So I'll Hold You Until You Can)

Kyoko looked up from her lunch to see her best friend Makoto Naegi slide into the seat next to her, joining his other friends Sayaka and Mukuro who were sitting at the opposite end of the table.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Hi,” he quietly replied.

Kyoko wasn’t concerned about his quietness at first, as he was always rather soft spoken, but as lunch went on, she realized he wasn’t talking at all. This wasn’t a problem, as Sayaka was a rather social person and could easily carry a conversation all on her own, but she still found it odd that he was just sitting and listening instead of actively participating in the discussion. She also observed that he had barely eaten and was just picking at his food.

She barely had time to think about it though, because moments later the set of strawberry blonde pigtails sitting next to her sister spoke up.

“Hey Naegi, who claimed you?”

All other chatter in the table ceased as they turned their heads to Junko, who was sitting there nonchalantly, despite what she’d just said, her chin resting on her hand.

Makoto’s face went red. “Wh—What are you talking about Enoshima?” He stuttered out.

Junko didn’t say anything and just stood up, sauntering over to the other end of the table. Then, without warning, she grabbed the collar of his jacket and yanked it down, revealing a series of bruises all along his lower neck and collarbone.

Everyone looked over quickly, and Makoto let out a short gasp, closing his eyes and flinching away from Junko slightly. He didn’t fight back, however, and everyone just stared in shock for a moment before Kyoko stood up.

“Leave him alone,” she said flatly, causing Junko to look up and meet her eyes. Kyoko gave her a death glare, and after a moment Junko scoffed and let go of him, causing him to frantically readjust the jacket to cover the marks.

“I was just curious, that’s all. No need to get in a tizzy about it. It’s not a big deal,” she huffed as she walked back over to the other side of the table and sat back down. Mukuro shifted away from her sister uncomfortably.

Sayaka looked like she was about to comment when Makoto got saved by the bell—literally. The school bell rang and Makoto quickly stood up, disposing of the remains of his lunch quickly before dashing out the door. 

The girls (except for Junko) all eyed each other nervously before Kyoko said “I’ll go after him,” and followed him out.

She doesn’t like to run, but she dashed out of the dining hall as fast as she could and down the hall. It was hard to keep track of him in the sea of students leaving lunch, but she still managed to keep her eyes on him as she ran, she’d recognize him anywhere.

He had slowed down now that he thought he could blend into the crowd, so Kyoko caught up with him quickly. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him aside into a nearby empty classroom. The other kids didn’t seem to notice, as they were too busy getting to class, but she did notice that Makoto flinched a little when she grabbed him.

“Woah—Kiri, you can just ask me to stop,” he said, startled.

“I’m sorry, I was scared you’d run off again,” Kyoko admitted. “But, listen, what Enoshima did back there wasn’t okay. That was clearly very private, and it wasn’t okay for her to just show everyone.”

Makoto nodded shyly. “uh...yeah. Thank you for um...defending me back there.”

“It’s no problem,” she said gently. Makoto was never the most assertive person, so she was used to standing up for him. Though she would admit, today was a bit much. “You don’t have to be scared of us, you know,” she continued. “If you’ve gotten into a relationship, that’s perfectly fine. It’s better than fine, actually, I’m happy for you, and I’m sure the others are too. Even if you’re getting a little more serious about it, we won’t judge you at all. We support you no matter what.”

Makoto gave her a genuine smile, and she could feel her heart melt like butter. There he was, that was the Makoto she knew. She smiled back.

Then, without warning, he hugged her. She staggered back a little, surprised at how hard he was squeezing her, but she did her best to reciprocate the gesture, despite never being the best hugger. It lasted for a long moment before he pulled away. “Thank you so much,” he said quietly.

“Of course,” she replied. “Now, we should get back to class.”

He nodded, and they exited the room, beginning to walk back to class.

“So, who was lucky enough to reel in a catch like you?” She teased, elbowing him playfully.

Makoto laughed, but then sighed, his face becoming more serious. “I can’t tell you.”

She instantly dropped her playful tone as well. “Why not?”

“I...just can’t.”

“Well, just know that when you feel like you can, I’ll support you no matter who it is.”

“Thanks,” he smiled at her.

The rest of the walk back was quiet.

After class, Kyoko filled the other two in on what happened, and they both agreed with what she said to him, though Mukuro was a little more quiet than usual. Kyoko had a feeling as to why, but she wasn’t going to press.

The rest of the day went on, but Kyoko still found herself worried about Makoto. She hadn’t asked where the bruises came from, as she knew it would be better for him to tell them on his own time, but he had seemingly confirmed her statements about having gotten into a relationship.

Still though, his behavior earlier had seemed...really off. She had never been in love before, but she was fairly confident that his behavior didn’t align with someone who’d recently started dating. If he had a secret relationship, his behavior definitely should be off, yes, but shouldn’t it be off in a good way? Shouldn’t he seem...happier?

She decided not to dwell on it too much, there were more important things to think about right now.

~~~

Nobody mentioned it the next day. Not even Junko. Kyoko was happy to see that he seemed to be back to his usual self, smiling and talking with everyone else. They all hoped he would bring up what happened yesterday, but despite that they weren’t going to press him when he didn’t. They were just going to wait until he was comfortable.

Seeing he was back to normal, Kyoko assumed that his behavior yesterday was because he was keeping a secret, and was feeling better now that he wasn’t anymore. She supposed she had to give Junko some credit, even though what she did was incredibly messed up. At least she got him back to his normal self.

Or, she thought so, until she placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention and he nearly jumped ten feet in the air.

The table erupted in a series of ‘woah, are you alright?’ and ‘are you okay? What happened?’

Makoto shook his head. “I’m fine, don’t worry. I was just startled, that’s all. Anyways, Maizono, you were saying?”

Sayaka went back to what she was saying, and the table returned to normal. Everyone brushed off what had just happened, but Kyoko took a mental note of it. That didn’t seem right. Maybe she was being paranoid, but it worried her, especially after yesterday. Was something still wrong?

She brought it up with the girls after class again, but they didn’t think anything was out of the ordinary. Still though, she couldn’t help but be suspicious. She _was_ the ultimate detective after all.

Things went on as normal for a couple more days until Makoto didn’t show up to lunch. Everyone raised their concerns, but knew there wasn’t much they could do about it, so lunch went on. But Kyoko was bothered. He rarely missed lunch, and when he did he always let them know in advance. Usually she wouldn’t be as suspicious, but his behavior over the past week was worrying her, and if it had something to do with his current absence, she had a really bad feeling about it. 

She knew she should stay out of his business, but her worry for Makoto was eating away at the back of her mind. The detective in her couldn’t let this slide.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” she announced, and walked out of the dining hall to go look for him. She earned a couple of looks at how matter-of-factly she said it, but she didn’t care. 

She walked through the halls as quickly as she could, trying not to raise suspicion, her eyes darting from room to room, glancing through the small windows to see if she could find him.

It was when she passed by the boys’ bathroom that something caught her attention. It sounded like there was crying coming from the inside.

She was going to have a quick look in there anyways, but now her interest was especially piqued. She looked around quickly to make sure nobody could see her, and then took a tentative step inside.

Sure enough, there her best friend stood in front of one of the mirrors, sobs wracking his body. 

“Hey, Makoto, what’s wrong?”

His head snapped up when he heard her voice, and, without saying a word, he suddenly threw his arms around her for the second time that week. 

She wrapped her arms around his shaking body and tried her best to steady it. “Woah, it’s alright, I’m here,” she tried to comfort him. She wasn’t the greatest at comforting people, but she was gonna damn well try.

“Why aren’t you at lunch?” he nearly whimpered into her shoulder, knowing her well enough not to ask what she was doing in the boys’ bathroom.

“I was...looking for you,” she admitted. “I was worried.”

He sighed and pulled away from the hug, wiping his eyes. “I’m sorry for making you worry, I just...I wasn’t expecting…” He let out another shaky sigh.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

“I...I can’t…” he took a defensive step back, wrapping his arms around himself. Kyoko’s breath hitched. She had to be careful.

“Then...that’s okay. You don’t have to.” She watched relief flood his face when she said that. “Would you like to come to lunch?”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t think I can.”

“Then...do you wanna just...hang out? We can find an empty classroom or quiet hallway and just...wait until lunch is over?”

His face lit up with a smile and he nodded. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Kyoko smiled back, she couldn’t help it when she saw his face. “Then let’s go.”

So they walked out of the bathroom quietly, and eventually settled on the same classroom she’d pulled him into a couple days back. They didn’t say anything, and just sat shoulder to shoulder quietly..

It wasn’t awkward, though. They understood each other, and that’s all they needed to share a comfortable silence.

Eventually, the bell rang, and they got up to get to class. She looked over at him again, and was glad to see that he had calmed down. He had a still look on his face, and his eyes and face weren’t red anymore.

The only sign he had been crying left was his messy hair, so, before they began making their way back to class, she gently leaned forward and brushed his hair out of his face, straightening it out and making it look more presentable.

“Thanks, Kiri,” he said softly.

Kyoko didn’t say anything on their walk back, but she wasn’t going to doubt her suspicions any longer. Something was definitely wrong with her best friend, and she was going to find out.

~~~

A few weeks had passed since the last major incident, and Kyoko was hanging out in her dorm room one evening when she heard a knock at the door. Swiftly, she got up and answered it, and wasn’t exactly surprised to see Makoto standing outside her door.

This didn’t come as a surprise due to the fact that he came over to hang out all the time. It wasn’t uncommon for him to just sit in her dorm and talk with her until curfew. (And sometimes even after curfew, but the faculty doesn’t need to know that).

What did surprise her, however, was just how tired he looked. Though, she had to admit, it surprised her less now than it would have a few weeks ago. He had been good about keeping up his chipper demeanor, but she’d been noticing a lot of slips lately. Still though, part of her would never get used to those slips, as it seemed to contradict everything she knew about him. That’s why she had to figure out what was wrong with him, she was incredibly worried about _why_ he was slipping.

Kyoko said nothing and just let him in, and he didn’t say anything either, just walking over to her bed and sitting on the end of it with a sigh. Kyoko sat next to him.

“Are you alright?” She asked, though she was certain she knew the answer.

“I’m...I don’t know.”

“Would you like to stay for the night?”

He nodded. “Please.”

“Okay. Stay as long as you need.”

He lets out a choked noise, clearly trying not to cry. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome anytime.”

She then got up to put on a movie. She was never a big moviegoer herself, but she got a DVD player for her dorm when Makoto started staying over, and they usually put on a movie when they couldn’t find anything to talk about.

Unlike when they usually watched movies together, he didn’t make comments about the movie that they would laugh at together. She understood why, and was just happy he could feel safe here, but she missed his silly remarks and the sound of his laughter. Come to think of it, she couldn’t even remember the last time she heard his laughter. She frowned at the thought.

It was about halfway through the movie when his phone suddenly went off. It made a rather loud dinging noise, and he quickly apologized, though Kyoko made sure to tell him there wasn’t any reason it would be an issue.

A few moments later though, his phone went off again. And again. He stuttered out more apologies, putting it on vibrate and setting it on her nightstand.

But that didn’t stop the notifications from coming, as Kyoko could still hear it buzzing over and over again, and she noticed he was eyeing it anxiously.

“Who is it?” She questioned, trying to make that question sound as natural as possible without it seeming like she was trying to pry.

“Um, it’s...it’s no one,” he furrowed his brow. He was never a good liar.

“I don’t think no one would be blowing up your phone like that.”

“It’s...I can’t tell you.” Almost on cue, his phone went off again.

Usually the constant buzzing would have made her rather annoyed, but he looked _scared_ at the sight of his phone vibrating, and this set off all of her alarms.

She reached out for the small device. “Here, how about we shut it all the way down—”

But before she could grab it, he frantically swiped it up. “N—no, that’s fine.” He unlocked his phone and looked at it for a moment, probably reading over the texts. “Um...actually, you know what? I should leave—”

“Don’t—” she grabbed his wrist.

Instantly, she wished she could take it back, as he let out a sharp gasp once her skin made contact with his.

She quickly let go of him, but the damage had already been done. He scrambled back onto the bed away from her.

“Wait, Makoto, I’m sorry—”

“It’s fine.” His voice was quiet and flat as he cut her off. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just...overreacting.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And before she could stop him, he had left the room. Did this have something to do with his supposed relationship? Were they...hurting him in some way? Why couldn’t he tell her?

She sighed and checked the clock. It was about midnight. All she could do now was go to bed and pray to a god she didn’t believe in that he was going to be okay. 

~~~

Not too much time went by before Makoto wound up in Kyoko’s dorm again, except this time he was staying the night. It had been a relatively normal night, where they laughed and talked until the early hours of the morning before eventually deciding they _had_ to go to bed and get at least a little sleep. Makoto had fallen asleep a while ago, but Kyoko had been certain to keep herself awake. When she was certain he was out cold, she carefully stood up and walked over to her bed, which she had let him take for the night, to look for his bag.

She found it at the foot of the bed, and was relieved to see it was already open and she didn’t have to worry about the zipper making noise. She leaned down and rummaged through it, pushing aside books and old homework until she spotted what she was looking for—his cellphone.

She felt guilty about snooping through his stuff, but she knew that this was the only way to help him. It had been weeks and despite her asking, he hadn’t told her anything. She knew it wasn’t her business, but she was just so worried, and even _scared_ that something sinister was going on that she didn’t know about. He had seemed downright terrified when his phone started going off last time, so she couldn’t help but try and see what it was. She just wanted to make sure he was safe.

She turned it on, only to find that it was locked with a password. Of course, who doesn’t have a password these days? It’s a bad idea, _not_ to have one. She started going back and forth on what the password could be before she realized an alternative. Slowly, without trying to wake him, she stood up and walked over to his side. She then ever so carefully slid the phone under his fingers and pressed his thumb against the fingerprint sensor, holding her breath the whole way through.

She knew he wasn’t the heaviest sleeper, but thankfully, he didn’t wake up, and the phone unlocked with a soft click. She let out a relieved sigh and sat down at the foot of the bed.

She smiled at his wallpaper, seeing it was a group photo of him, herself, Sayaka, and Mukuro. That was just like him.

But looking at his wallpaper wasn’t going to help, so, with a silent apology, she opened his texts. The contact that had been texted most recently simply just read ‘him’ with no profile picture. That was...odd. She opened their messages and scrolled up a bit.

**Come over.**

_I’m sorry I can’t right now_

**I wasn’t asking.**

_I’m sorry, but I’m not at school_

_right now. I’m out with friends_

**I never said you could do that.**

_I’m so sorry I’ll ask next time I swear._

_Do you want me to leave? I can if you_

_want me to. I’m really really sorry_

**No. There’s no point in calling**

**you back now. Have your fun.**

_Thank you so much. I promise I’ll_

_ask next time, I swear_

**It’s fine. Just be prepared. It’ll be**

**twice as hard next time.**

Kyoko’s hands started to shake as she reached the end of the conversation. She usually had a relatively clean mouth, but _what the fuck?_ She scrolled down a bit further, but it was mostly agreeing on meeting times or Makoto agreeing to come over. She kept scrolling until she found another real conversation.

**You’re running late.**

_Yeah I know I’m sorry I’m coming_

**What? Out with friends again?**

_No I was just doing homework_

**Hm. Well, speaking of your**

**friends, you haven’t told**

**any of them about this**

**have you?**

_Well, no, but Enoshima did_

_kinda tell everyone I had_

_been...with someone._

**What? How did Enoshima know?**

_I’m not sure. Enoshima just…_

_figures things out sometimes._

_but I swear I didn’t tell anyone_

_it was you!!_

**No one was supposed to know**

**ANYTHING about us.**

_I know I’m sorry I couldn’t do_

_anything about it I promise I’m_

_so sorry I’m so so sorry_

**Well, since no one knows about me**

**specifically I suppose it’s fine. In**

**fact, maybe it’s better now that they**

**know how dirty you are. I guarantee**

**they all think less of you now. Imagine**

**what would happen if they knew how**

**often you got on your knees for me.**

**They would leave you in the dust.**

_They wouldn’t. They’re my friends_

**People are never who they seem.**

**You might think they care about**

**you but I can say from experience**

**they’d turn on you in a heartbeat.**

**Anyways, just be glad Enoshima**

**didn’t figure out about me specifically.**

**You know what will happen if anyone**

**finds out.**

_I know I’m so sorry please don’t_

_tell anyone I’ll do better at hiding_

_it from now on no one will know_

_I promise._

**Good. Now hurry over here, I’m going**

**to have to punish you for that. Maybe**

**I’ll hold back a little if you get here quickly**

_Okay I'm coming I’m so sorry._

Kyoko felt sick. The fact that these things were happening to her best friend while she was sleeping easy made her feel suddenly very guilty, even though she knew she couldn’t have done anything about it.

The shaking spread from her hands to all throughout her body. She almost put the phone down because she had never had this kind of reaction to anything before. She was usually strong and calm in these situations, but the fact that this was happening to _Makoto_ and she was practically just letting it happen filled her with the worst kind of dread.

She wanted to stop. She wanted to turn the phone off and put it away and then curl up in bed and hide under the covers forever. Of course, she couldn’t do that seeing as her bed was currently occupied, and if she stopped, the person occupying her bed might never truly rest again. She _had_ to keep going, to try and find any information about this villain’s identity. She had to find him, and she had to stop him.

She kept scrolling until she found something...familiar.

**Where are you?**

**You said you were coming tonight.**

**Why aren’t you answering me? I know**

**you have your phone on you.**

**I know you aren’t asleep either.**

**You’re ignoring me. You’d better respond.**

**What, are you with one of your little friends**

**again? You know they don’t actually like**

**you, right?**

**Let me guess, you’re with that purple one**

**right? Kirigiri?**

**Of course. You still think she actually likes**

**you.**

**She only keeps you around because she**

**feels bad about how weak you are.**

**Still ignoring me, are you? You know**

**that’s a bad decision.**

**I’m going to absolutely ruin you**

**once come crawling back to me.**

**You don’t have anywhere else to go,**

**after all. No one really cares about**

**you, save for maybe your family, but**

**that’s only because they have to.**

**You don’t have a single likable**

**quality.**

**And anyways, even if you’re somehow**

**still holding on to the false pretense**

**that you’ve done anything to deserve**

**the affection you’ve been given, you**

**know what will happen if you try to**

**leave me.**

**If you make it over here tonight, maybe**

**I’ll leave you able to walk once I’m finished.**

Kyoko let out a choked noise. She couldn’t keep going. ‘Him’ was saying these horrible, horrible things to Makoto while she had just been sitting there _watching a movie._

Suddenly, she heard shifting behind her.

“Kiri?” A voice behind her said. Shit.

“What are you doing up?” he asked sleepily, sitting up in bed. She tried to hide the phone, but it was too late, he’d already noticed the light it was giving off.

“Wait, is that my phone? What the hell are you doing?!” He clambered out of bed, waking up entirely and walking over to the end of the bed in front of her.

“Kyoko, why are you looking through my phone?!” He was rather angry as he tried to grab his phone back, but before he could, Kyoko dropped it, because now it was her turn to give him a hug.

All the apparent anger instantly disappeared from his face once her arms made contact with him, probably due to the shock that _she_ was the one to initiate a hug for once.

“Kyoko? What are you—”

“I’m so sorry Makoto,” she whispered.

“About...going through my phone? Why were you even doing that?”

“Well...yes, but I’m also sorry because I...read your texts.”

His eyes widened. “What? You, but, he—” He stumbled over his words for a little bit before his breathing started to pick up pace.

Almost instantly she let go of him, giving him space to breathe.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry he’s not here. He can’t hurt you. It’s just us, he doesn’t know,” she instantly said in an attempt to placate him.

It didn’t do much though, so she gently asked “Can I touch you?”

He nodded, and she reached out and grabbed his hands. She gripped them as firmly as she could without hurting him.

“Makoto, can you breathe with me? I need you to breathe in for four seconds, can you do that?”

He nodded, and took a breath as she counted to four.

“Great, you’re doing really great. Now I need you to hold it for seven seconds, okay?” She began to count to seven, and he did as he was told, holding it for all seven seconds.

“Now you’re going to breathe out for eight seconds. You’re doing great.” She counted to eight, and he tried to breathe out, but she noticed that his breath kept hitching.

“That was good. Let’s do it again, alright? In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.”

This went on for a couple moments until his breathing had entirely stilled.

“There, see, you’re okay,” she reassured him. “Now...are you ready for me to explain myself?”

He nodded “Please.”

She sighed. “Okay. But, first, I want to apologize again. It’s wrong to go through people’s personal information, I know that, and I’ll never go through _anything_ of yours without your permission again, but...it was my last option.”

“You last option for what?” He raised an eyebrow.

“I...I’ve been really worried about you, Makoto. I keep trying to ask you what’s wrong and…and you always say you can’t talk about it. Usually I’d try to stay out of your business but...this is all so unlike you and, and it made me really scared for your safety. I suspected...it had something to do with the apparent relationship of yours Enoshima had exposed and I was worried that...maybe they were hurting you. And it looks like they are.”

She heard her voice waver near the end of her last sentence, and she hated it. She hated how weak she sounded right now. But it didn’t matter. She had to face this situation head on. She had to help Makoto, whether he wanted it or not.

“How did this all start?”

He sighed. “I can’t—”

“But you can! If you can’t tell me who he is...at least tell me how this all started. I want to help you. Even if I can’t stop him, if I understand the situation I might be able to make you feel better. And that’s better than nothing.”

He hung his head. “We were...assigned a group project together,” he began.

Kyoko almost flipped out upon hearing that, because _it was someone in their class,_ and not only that but it was a _male in their class._ That narrowed it down to seven people. She said a silent thanks to no god in particular because he didn’t understand the clue he’d just given her.

“So we went to his dorm and...things were going normal for a while but then...I kept messing things up. He said I wasn’t doing it right. So I...I asked him what he wanted and...he said…‘me.’”

Kyoko sharply inhaled. She could only imagine how horrifying that must’ve been. Still, she urged him to continue. She needed as much information as she could get so she could run this sick bastard into the ground.

“I—I was confused, you know? What did he mean he wanted me? But...then he started getting closer and...I knew.”

There was a pause before Kyoko said quietly “If you don’t want to continue, that’s fine,” because as much as she needed information on this guy, she couldn’t force Makoto to relive something like that.

“No, I can—I can continue. So, he...he got closer. And he kept getting closer. And...I couldn’t do anything. He was bigger than me and—and more powerful and I...I just couldn’t resist him. And...I guess he wanted... _more_ after that first time, so...here we are. God, you probably think I’m weak.” his eyes started getting wet with tears, and she could tell he was doing everything in his power not to cry.

Kyoko shook her head. “I would never think you’re weak in a million years. You’re not weak for having something like that happen to you. No one is, and it’s horrible you had to go through that.”

She looked at him tenderly. “In the messages, he mentioned that something is going to happen if anyone finds out. What was he referring to?

“He...he hired someone to uh…’investigate’ our family I guess, and…” he bit his lip anxiously. “He found out Komaru is a lesbian. He says if I ever tell anyone about us or, stop... _cooperating_ with him he’ll tell our parents. I can’t do that to her.” A couple tears ran down his face. “So, I have to do what he says.

“And...aside from Komaru...if someone finds out, they’re—they’re gonna tell everyone and...if people find out what our relationship is _really_ like...they’re—they’re all going to hate me because of how gross and dirty and disgusting I am.” He let out a shaky sob, and Kyoko gently put a hand on his shoulder to stop him from shaking. “And if my parents found out... _oh god.”_ He placed a hand over his mouth and started sobbing. Kyoko hugged him again, and he sobbed into her shoulder.

“Listen, Makoto. I don’t think you’re gross or disgusting or anything like that. Getting taken advantage of like that will never diminish your worth, and even if it had been consensual I still would never think any less of you. And I’m not the only one, I promise. Believe it or not, you’re actually rather popular among our classmates, they care about you a whole lot and aren’t going to abandon you because of something like that. And I know Maizono and Ikusaba absolutely _adore_ you. They’ll support you no matter what.”

His sobs were loud against her, and she was thankful the dorms were soundproof. He didn’t say anything, but just held onto her tightly.

“I wish I could tell you, I really do, but I just...I can’t…” he whimpered out. “Because then you’ll try and do something and... _even_ if you’re right about my friends...Komaru…”

“Okay...okay...it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me. We can just...sit.”

So they did. Makoto clung to Kyoko and cried for what seemed like hours. Kyoko just held onto him as tight as she could, as if he were going to drift away if she ever let him go. They still didn’t let go when he stopped crying, and stayed locked in their embrace. Eventually, she felt him nod off against her, and she let out a relieved sigh.

It had been a crazy night, and she had done a lot of things she didn’t want to. It hurt her so badly to see him in the state he’d been in when explaining everything, and she wished he’d never have to talk about it ever again, but she was close now.

She hooked one arm under his legs and picked him up, carrying him back over to her bed. He was surprisingly light, and it reminded her of the first sign, that day at lunch here he was quiet and wasn’t eating much. She was going to have to question him about his eating habits later.

Now wasn’t the time, though. She looked at the clock and saw that it was almost four in the morning. She was just glad she’d gotten him back to sleep, they had to be awake in a couple hours, and he needed all the rest he could get.

She gently set him down on her bed and brought the blanket back around him. Usually this would have woken him, but he was out like a rock. She carefully tucked him in until he looked comfortable, and then leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

She was going to find the monster who raped her best friend, and she was going to stop him by any means necessary, even if it meant killing him.

~~~

After school the next day, she set to work trying to narrow down who it could be.

She immediately ruled out Chihiro, as Makoto said his abuser was bigger than he is, and Chihiro is the only boy (or, only student really) in their class that’s smaller than Makoto. She also didn’t think Chihiro was the type to do anything like that. Sure, people can always put on an act, but he pretended to be a girl for years because he was afraid they would all bully him for how small and weak he was. It wasn’t very likely that it was all an act seeing how dedicated he was.

The next person she ruled out was Hifumi. Hifumi was painfully heterosexual, and made it clear that not only did he not like men at all, but he didn’t even like real women, and was only attracted to ‘2-D,’ as he put it. And once again, his behavior was very dedicated for it all to have been an act. Not to mention she doubted he was smart enough to achieve this level of manipulation.

That left Hiro, Taka, Mondo, Leon, and Byakuya.

She doubted it was Taka given his status at the ultimate moral compass, and she also doubted it was Hiro seeing as he was...well, not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she decided not to rule them out completely as she didn’t know them well enough.

So her prime suspects were Leon, Mondo, and Byakuya. Now all she had to do was wait for a sign.

~~~

That sign came a few weeks later. Ever since that night, she had been keeping a very close eye on Makoto. Not only because she knew he needed constant emotional support right now, and she was ready to offer it whenever she sensed something had happened, but also because she knew that she was close.

She knew she couldn’t just confront all the suspects, nor could she ask anyone else to help her. Makoto was obviously never going to fess up no matter what happened, and she couldn’t prove who exactly it was that was hurting him, so confronting them or enlisting anyone else was risky. If she did either of those things there was a strong chance of her operation being found out, then secrets would be leaked and they wouldn’t even know who leaked them in the first place. Not to mention she wanted to do as little as possible to betray Makoto’s trust.

So, she waited. It hurt her every time Makoto had to skip out on plans ‘for homework’ when she knew he had to go back to his abuser, and she died a little every time he came to her crying afterwards. But, she just had to deal with it, because waiting was her best option.

So, when the sign she needed finally came, she couldn’t wait to make a plan.

The sign came after school, when it was time for the students to clean up before heading back to their dorms.

Kyoko had been keeping a very close eye on Makoto over the past few weeks. She had his routine memorized, and was aware of every deviation. So, when she couldn’t find him during cleaning time, she knew that now was her moment. She didn’t know how he’d managed to slip away without her knowing, but now she had to find him.

She quietly slipped away from everyone else and began roaming around the school, making sure to check every inch of it thoroughly. After a while, her searching eventually led her to the library.

Normally, she would have simply just looked inside the library, but for some reason, it was _locked._ That was weird, to say the least. Most of the rooms were supposed to be unlocked until ten PM, so that raised two questions. Firstly, why was it locked, and secondly, _who locked it?_

But a locked door wasn’t going to stop the headmaster’s daughter. She reached into her pocket and withdrew a skeleton key she’d, ah, ‘borrowed’ from her father and unlocked the door. She took a quick moment to prepare herself for what she might see in there, and then slowly pushed the door open—

—only to find nothing. There was nobody in the library.

She was confused at first, until she saw that the door to the archive room was open just a crack, and when she was quiet, she could hear voices coming from inside. She slowly crept towards the archive room, keeping as quiet as possible, and peered inside.

What she saw made her want to scream. Pinned against one of the bookshelves was Makoto Naegi, and the man pressing himself against the smaller boy was none other than the ultimate affluent progeny, Byakuya Togami.

“N—Not here, please,” Makoto whimpered, as Byakuya’s mouth traveled down to his neck.

Byakuya scoffed. “The door is locked, as long as you keep quiet, nothing bad will happen.”

“But—”

“Are you trying to suggest I’m wrong?”

“No, I—I would never—”

“Then I’m just going to have to punish you for that,” Byakuya cut him off and started trailing one of his knees upwards between Makoto’s legs. Makoto let out a choked cry before Byakuya shut him up with a rough kiss.

Then Kyoko did one of the hardest things she’s ever had to do. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, and took a picture.

Everything about that action felt wrong, but she needed that picture to stop this once and for all.

She took a couple more pictures for good measure.

She knew she had to leave. She wanted to do nothing more than run in there and pull Makoto away from the vile creature on top of him, but she knew that if she wanted everything to work out, she had to wait.

Still, she couldn’t sit idly by and let this happen. She wasn’t going to let him get abused any more than he had to.

Carefully, she grabbed a pen out of her pocket, and dropped it on the ground.

Byakuya froze when he heard the clattering sound it made, backing up from Makoto a little and turning his head towards the door. Kyoko moved to the right so he couldn’t see her. 

“Someone’s here,” Byakuya said quietly.

“H—how is that possible? Didn’t you lock it?” Makoto stammered out.

“Yes, I did. Unless…” his expression quickly grew sour, and his head back snapped back towards Makoto angrily. Makoto flinched. “Did you unlock it when my back was turned?!”

“No I—I couldn’t have even if I wanted to, we hurried straight to the archive room, remember?”

Byakuya scoffed. “We need to get out of here.”

Kyoko took that as her sign to leave. She hurried out of the library as quickly as she could, luckily having learned to silence her footsteps from years of sleuthing. 

She dashed out of the library and took cover by turning into the nearby hallway. Makoto and Byakuya followed later.

“The door was unlocked. Someone was definitely here,” she heard Byakuya’s voice whisper. “Walk several feet ahead of me. Don’t make it look like we’re walking together”

A moment later, Makoto turned into the same hallway where she was.

“Makoto! I’ve been looking for you!” Kyoko said when he caught sight of her. “Were you in the library? I tried to go in a while ago, but it was locked.”

Makoto laughed nervously. “Uh, well—”

“Whatever. Anyways, cleaning time is about over, so why don’t you head back to my dorm?” Kyoko cut him off to spare him the awkwardness of trying to come up with an excuse.

“Uh, you want me to—um, well I—” She noticed him turn his head back slightly, probably looking for Byakuya. She imagined Byakuya must be pretty ticked off having to wait for so long. That thought made her smile.

“Oh, do you already have plans?”

“Well, er, no but, uh—” Makoto was unsuccessfully scrambling around for an excuse. He was always horrible under pressure.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. “Then come hang out with me tonight. You’ve been skipping out on plans a lot recently, and I miss hanging out with you,” she smiled warmly.

He blinked, and then smiled back. “Alright. Let’s go.”

She grabbed his hand and started walking, and she could tell he was surprised at how forceful she was being, but that didn’t matter right now. Her amount of force usually would have raised a lot of suspicion, but she wasn’t worried that he picked up on her spying. She loved him to pieces, but she knew he wasn’t the most...perceptive.

She was a bit worried about Byakuya picking up on it, as she was 100% certain he was listening to their conversation, but the two of them rarely talked, so there’s a decent chance he wouldn’t know that this amount of force is a bit out of character for her. But even if he was suspicious, that didn’t matter too much. She was going to have a talk with him very soon. 

~~~

It was Friday night, and Kyoko was ready to fight.

Having prepared herself, she marched over to Byakuya’s dorm, and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and she felt an indescribable rage when the creature wearing a human disguise appeared on the other side and said “Kirigiri, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

She pushed her rage down though, as airing out their dirty laundry in the hallway would be a grave mistake, and she needed to wait until they were in the soundproofed dorms.

So she wasted no time pushing past him into his dorm.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” He shouted as she closed the door behind them.

She took her skeleton key out of her pocket and locked the door. “Well. Now that we’re alone, we can finally talk.”

“Finally? You’ve been here for less than a minute! And how did you lock the door?” His face read nothing but rage, but she knew she was far angrier than he was.

“I know what you’re doing to Makoto, and I’m here to tell you to stop.”

He stared at her for a moment in disbelief she knew was fake before saying “Naegi? Why would I have anything to do with that idiot? And why did you need to invade my personal space to accuse me of doing anything to him?” His anger had subsided, but his voice was still laced with annoyance. He was a good actor, and he probably could’ve fooled anyone else—but she wasn’t anyone else.

“Cut the crap, Togami. I’m the ultimate detective and Makoto’s best friend. I am one hundred percent certain about this.”

Byakuya stared at her for a moment before crossing his arms and saying “Fine. You caught me. How did you—” his eyes darted down to her hand, noticing the key. “—were you the one in the library the other day?”

“What are you talking about?” She lied, not wanting him to pick up on anything just yet.

His eyes narrowed. She could tell he was still suspicious, but he didn’t press further and asked “Then how did you find out? Did he tell you?”

She put the key back in her pocket. “No. I’ve been trying to get him to talk for weeks ever since I realized he was acting differently, but he’s been rather tight lipped about everything. If you must know, I went through his phone.”

He barked out a laugh. “And you think I’m the bad guy?”

Kyoko had to do everything she could to stop herself from wrapping her hands around his throat and squeezing as hard as she could. “Our actions are nowhere near comparable.”

“Maybe so, but if _that’s_ how you obtain your information you can’t call yourself innocent. Still, I don’t know how you figured out it was me, he knows better than to keep any information that could possibly identify me. I made sure of that fact.” He smirked at that last statement, and Kyoko felt sick. He was just so smug about running another human’s wellbeing into the ground.

“I analyzed how you were texting and the manipulation tactics you were using and deduced that the most likely candidate was you.”

“Is that all the evidence you have? I thought you were the ultimate detective. Wasn’t that talent of yours the reasoning you used to convince me to ‘cut the crap,’ as you said? If that’s all you had to go by, maybe I should have just stuck to denial,” he smirked again, and Kyoko couldn’t wait to wipe it off his face.

“Anyways,” he continued, “what are you going to do about it? I have Naegi under my complete control. Let me let you in on a secret, Kirigiri. Since you're his best friend, you deserve to know. Did you know Naegi’s sister is a lesbian?” She opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off, clearly enjoying the sound of his own voice. “And did you know that their parents are bible thumping ignoramuses? Well, it would certainly be a shame if they were to find out what their daughter is doing in her free time, or rather _who_ she’s doing in her free time.”

Kyoko stared at him with the most anger and intensity she had ever had before, wishing she could rip out his tongue so she wouldn’t have to hear another vile word come out of his mouth. All she could do was keep herself at bay with the satisfaction that she already knew what he thought made him above her by telling her.

“There’s nothing you can do to convince me to stop, or him to leave. If you try to go to the police, they won’t believe you. Naegi won’t cooperate, I have access to the best lawyers in the country, and you obviously have a lack of proof. Congrats, you found me, but there’s nothing you can do about it. You’re just going to have to live with that knowledge.”

“Am I though?”

Now it was Kyoko’s turn to be smug. Now she was the one bearing a smirk. Now it was her turn to blackmail someone, only this time she was doing what was right.

“What do you mean?” His expression fell, but he was still keeping his cool—for now at least.

“You really assume I would march over here with no evidence? The rumors are true, you really do think you’re above everyone else. Your arrogance is your fatal flaw, Togami, and just like with every tragic hero, it will be your downfall. Though I’d slit my own throat before I call you a hero. ” 

“What are you implying?” He raised his voice slightly. Oh yeah, she struck a nerve there. She couldn’t wait for him to see the look on his face when she shattered his confidence and razed his ego to the ground.

“You keep him under your control by threatening to out his sister, correct? Well, I raise you this, if you out his sister, I’ll out you.”

“You...you can’t. You can accuse me all you want but no one will believe you. I can wipe those messages clean off the face of the earth, and then it’s just your word against the Togami corporation.” Though he was still relatively calm, she could sense the panic in his voice. 

“Is that so? Well, I bet you’d hate it if the Togami corporation saw this, right?” From the same pocket as the key, she withdrew a small photograph. It was one of the photographs she’d taken from the day in the library, though she’d blurred out Makoto’s face. A look of horror crossed his face as she handed it to him, and that horror morphed into ire. “So you _were_ in the library! You filthy liar—”

“I’m the filthy liar? Be careful so you don’t choke on all that hypocrisy of yours. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but despite how you act, you aren’t the head of the Togami corporation, right? You’re just the heir. Now, I wonder what would happen if the actual head of the Togami corporation saw this picture…” she playfully feigned ignorance with a smile, and Byakuya said nothing. His hands started to shake as he looked at the picture he was holding.

“Because the Togami family is perfect, right? There can’t be anything out of the ordinary about them. I’ve done my research, you wouldn’t be the first heir to be disowned and left with nothing for their sexual preferences, and your father has been known to donate to anti-lgbt organizations. Even if you somehow weren’t kicked to the curb, you would lose all kinds of business deals, and in the future many of the old crones who run the world won’t want to work with you, isn’t that right? No matter what happens, your career is going to suffer if I release this, and judging from the past actions of the Togami family I have a feeling the scenario will be a lot more like the first I suggested. That’s why you didn’t want him to tell anyone, correct?

“Oh, and I’m pretty sure you’ve already inferred this, but that obviously isn’t my only copy of the photo. I have multiple physical copies hidden in various places, and I have multiple digital backups on different devices. You can’t destroy that picture, no matter who you hire and how hard you try. You can keep that one, actually, as a reminder.”

She crossed her arms and gave him the world’s most smug and self indulgent grin. He was still shaking, and she almost felt a little bad, seeing him so vulnerable, but she could never feel bad for that piece of filth.

After a moment, he choked out “what do you want?”

“What was that? I can’t hear you,” she teased, perhaps deriving a little too much pleasure from tormenting him, but she couldn’t say she regretted it.

“What do you want me to do?!” He cried out. “You’ve won, Kirigiri, are you happy? What do you want from me?!”

“Is it not obvious?” Suddenly, she leaned in close to his face, making fierce eye contact with him. “Let Makoto go,” she said darkly, “and stay the fuck away from him. I’d love to get you locked up, but I know that given the circumstances that isn’t possible, so the next best option is to get you to never lay a hand on him again. If you don’t let him go, or _ever_ out his sister, this picture is making its way into the public eye, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?” She leaned away from him, the smile still not having left her face. She knew she shouldn’t be happy about it, but she just couldn’t help herself. She wouldn’t call herself a sadist, but seeing him flounder around in panic filled her with a sense of satisfaction she could never get from anything else

“...fine. I’ll let him know tomorrow. Get out of my dorm.”

“Gladly.”

So she turned, unlocked the door, and left.

~~~

Kyoko was sitting in her dorm reading, almost a full day had passed since her little adventure and she hadn’t heard anything from Makoto. She was getting a bit worried, if she hadn’t heard anything by tomorrow she was going to have to confront Byakuya about it.

Luckily, she wouldn’t have to do anything of the sort, because her reading was interrupted by a knock at the door, and when she opened it, a relieved Makoto was looking back at her.

He almost fell into her arms. She held him gently, and neither of them said anything for a while, just standing there grateful to have each other.

After a long moment, Makoto finally whispered. “He let me go…”

“Hm?”

“H—He said that...as long as I don’t tell anyone...he doesn’t want me anymore.”

“That’s good to hear.” Kyoko was relieved he made good on their deal, otherwise she’d have to go threaten him again, and she didn’t want to be in his presence any longer than she had to.

“Why aren't you surprised?”

“Well...I did a little investigating and...let’s just say he isn’t the only one who knows how to blackmail.”

Makoto stepped back a little and looked at her, shocked. “Wait, you—that was you? You did—but, how did...I—”

Kyoko shook her head. “Don’t worry about it right now. You’re clearly shaken, you need rest. Why don’t you stay here again tonight, and I’ll tell you tomorrow morning when your head is clearer, okay?”

Makoto sighed. “Okay. That sounds like a good idea.”

~~~

What to do next is always something tough to figure out. Makoto was satisfied with just being freed from the clutches of the Togami heir, but Kyoko wanted to do more. She didn’t want Makoto to have to see his face ever again.

She knew that if she went to the authorities they’d just be fighting a losing battle, but that didn’t mean there was nothing she could do. So, instead of going to the police, she went to the one person with the most control over Byakuya’s future—her father.

It took a little bit of convincing, but she got Makoto to hand over copies of his texts, and show his bruises, and Kyoko handed over the pictures. After they told their story and ran a check on the phone number, the ultimate affluent progeny was quietly expelled.

And not just quietly, but nearly silently. She had told her father about the blackmail, and they knew that if they wanted to keep Komaru safe, making sure that no one knew the truth about his expulsion was the way to go. Her father was hesitant, but she _might_ have gotten him to fake witness accounts saying he was exploring places of the school he wasn’t supposed to.

It was one of the least bad reasons you could get expelled from Hope’s Peak, and it was in character for the school as well, seeing as they were known for...disposing of people sticking their nose where they shouldn’t be. If information got out, everyone would assume he was just trying to learn more about the school’s talent research.

She wanted the world to know his crimes, and turn against him for it, but Makoto wanted to protect his sister, so for now, that’s what they were going to do.

It wasn’t perfect, but that’s life. She was just glad her best friend was safe, and sometimes, safe is good enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey! Thank you so much for reading this!
> 
> I tried to make everything as accurate to the actual Hope's Peak building as possible, but I might have taken a few creative liberties. Oh well, how the building looks in DR3 and how it's described in DR0 both don't line up with how it is in game so it doesn't matter.
> 
> This is the longest thing I've ever written, haha. I used to call my 5+1 reguri fic my masterpiece, but I think my masterpiece is this now. I did run out of motivation near the end, but I tried my best to power through it
> 
> I want to apologize to Byakuya, you may be a pretentious asshole but I still think you're alright, I just realized Makoto is easy to abuse and wanted to write a fic about it, so I really needed a bad guy here. I almost used Junko but I didn't think she would fit as well.
> 
> I wanted to include Hina in Makoto’s friend group but I figured she’d be with Sakura the whole time 
> 
> Also, because I implied one sided Naekusaba for a single line I'd like to imagine that eventually happens in the future of this fic. Naegiri is my DR OTP but they work better as friends in this one. Also leosaya and tokomaru are a thing in this AU too I just couldn't find out how to fit them in. I imagine at this point Leon and Sayaka have gone on a date or two and tokomaru haven't met yet but they will!! They will eventually.
> 
> Whatever it doesn't matter anyways I'm not using this AU again.
> 
> Just, thanks.


End file.
